


An Expression of Personal Discomfort With The 'Wander is a Nice Guy™' Interpretation

by Sparky_Lurkdragon



Category: Shadow of the Colossus, Team ICO Series
Genre: Archived From Tumblr, Archived from sparkylurkdragon Tumblr blog, F/M, Meta, Nonfiction, Wander Isn't The Villain Interpretation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:47:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24431566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sparky_Lurkdragon/pseuds/Sparky_Lurkdragon
Summary: In which I'm skeptical of the interpretation that Wander is a Nice Guy™ who barely knew Mono, while still accepting that it's as understandable an interpretation as any other.
Relationships: Mono/Wander (Shadow of the Colossus)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	An Expression of Personal Discomfort With The 'Wander is a Nice Guy™' Interpretation

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my blog sparkylurkdragon.tumblr.com on September 23rd 2018. I believe it was partially a vagueblog in response to a comic going around at the time as well as a response to the general popularity of the "Wander is the game's villain" interpretation of the story.
> 
> I've always been on Wander's side in all this, but so we're clear, this was mostly just me talking to myself and we have no beefs between us if you disagree.

“Wander is a Nice Guy™ who brought Mono to the Forbidden Lands to revive her without really knowing her beforehand” is a completely valid interpretation of events as presented in _Shadow of the Colossus_. If people found meaning from this interpretation, I’m glad, and I mean that. The game has a story that echoes back what you bring to it, and it is so powerful for that.

But.

But…

I don’t… _like_ this interpretation like, _at all_ , ‘cause…

Look, the thing about Nice Guys™ is that, unlike guys who are nice, they think the bare minimum of positive human interaction warrants being able to get into someone’s pants. Stuff like ‘wow I paid for dinner why won’t you kiss me’ or ‘look at me I listened to you complain about your day, how about a ~*~reward~*~’, and so on.

I don’t think stealing a magic sword, riding for days to the end of the world, making a deal with a dubious sealed entity that involves climbing gargantuan creatures to stab them in the head when you’re not even trained with a sword is… like… even _remotely_ in the same category. Wander’s quest is waaaaay too much effort for a Nice Guy™ to me, whether or not you think he’s in the right to go on it.

Now, I could see some legit thought on it being like a fantasy-exaggerated version of destructive Nice Guy™ moping, I guess, but… I just don’t see it. Or I do see it but think it’s hogwash, but then again I roll around in “Dormin’s not evil” hogwash so like… you do you.

I just had some thoughts on this interpretation.


End file.
